DUers, Help! Comments and Research needed quickly for environmental law change

[demobabe]

Okay, here's the deal: The US Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement just released an Environmental Impact Study and Proposed Rule regarding Coal Mining and Stream Buffer Zones.

More simply put: People are blowing up and removing entire mountains in Appalachia. They take all the rocks that used to be mountain, and fill valleys with them, permanently altering where rainfall goes causing huge floods and killing streams and fish (and people, too).

So they've done a study and plan to implement changes to the law which are friendly to Big Coal companies (even though they claim they aren't).

There is a 60 day period for comments regarding the proposed changes in the law. At this link, you can find all the documents and process for commenting:

http://www.osmre.gov/

I'm hoping to start a discussion here about these documents and what can be done to protect the environment in the Appalachians.

What the coal companies are doing there is evil wicked. I witnessed the area first hand, and the destruction is unbelievable to see. They hide it well off the interstates, because if any of it was in view, there would be an incredible public outcry.

The dynamite blasts cause huge cracks in the earth, clear down to the aquifers causing them to be contaminated with nasty chemicals causing the local water supply to be unsafe to drink. I KNOW there has to be something illegal there, but that's the purpose of this thread: go through the documents and figure out what is going on and what kind of comments we can send them before the October deadline.

Thanks ahead of time!

[demobabe]

1. More about some of the effects of Mountaintop Removal mining

When I walked the area and saw the cracks from the blasting, these cracks were large enough to (and had) have a full sized adult fall into them and fall many feet to their death. That's gruesome, but the idea that the underground water supply is being destroyed is insane.

Some of the issues brought up in this report state that the laws were initially written to deal with the environmental impacts of coal mining. I don't think they had any idea in 1977 that they'd be removing entire mountains and filling in the valleys with the debris, making the whole area like a pool table - with no place for the rain to go. The natural vegetation is removed, and the new stuff is non-native and doesn't suck up the water, so it has to go somewhere.

It creates massive and dangerous floods which have wiped out entire villages in the mountains. A town, gone.

One kid was killed in his SLEEP, in his OWN BED, when a huge bolder came crashing down and crushed him.

A lot of their argument appears to be that since coal mining causes environmental damage, then the stream is going to be damaged anyway, so it doesn't matter if we fill it with rocks and debris from mining operations.

But from what I've seen, they not only fill valleys with mine tailings, they also truck in all kinds of stuff. One valley was filled with old tires and then had mine tailings dumped on top of that! Water still drains through this trash and downstream - and toxic chemicals get into the surface water this way.

[demobabe]

2. One suggestion for the comments

There is a requirement that mining sites are revegetated after the completion of mining. I think they should be required to plant the same kind of trees as the ones they removed. Currently they plant non-native quick growing low quality trees that don't absorb the rains from the storms.

However I don't know how much help that would be when the entire area has been turned into a huge, flat area where the mountain used to be.

[Beerboy]

3. Thanks for posting!

I oppose corporations wherever I find them, especially since it's part of my job to do business w/ one. Bookmarked for later.

[annabanana]

4. Where to comment:

Interested persons may submit comments on the proposed rule by mail or courier addressed:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Administrative Record, Room 252-SIB,
1951 Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20240,

or by internet through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal:

http://www.regulations.gov.


Please identify the comments by including docket number 1029-AC04 in the subject line.

[demobabe]

5. Thanks for posting that

I'm also hoping to get a list of issues and comments on this thread and see if any experts can come forward and help read and interpret the EIR.

[demobabe]

6. kick

:kick:

[XemaSab]

7. Good luck with that.

I'd call Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, and maybe a few other groups and see if they're planning to comment.

The comment has to be in response to the EIS, so if you haven't read it you need to do so.

[demobabe]

8. Yes of course I know I have to read the EIS, and contact groups - that's obvious

The whole reason for posting here is to bring attention to it so other people who have vast more knowledge than me can also read it, and perhaps we ALL can do something about it. Unless there is awareness, this is one more issue that can come and pass without any action because people didn't care.

If you care about Global Warming at ALL, you know that coal is not contributing to solving this big problem.

There are a multitude of problems going on with Mountaintop Removal, from creating different weather pattens to flooding, to destruction of villages, poisoning water sources, destroying streams and endangering wildlife. We need to protect these mountains and also move away from coal - every little action and step helps.

So are you going to read it and see if you have any ideas?

[alfredo]

9. Here's a group that is fighting the good fight.

http://www.kftc.org/ They're good people and deserve your support.

[demobabe]

10. That's a great link!

Thanks for posting that. I will indeed contact them...

Also been talking to other groups like http://www.ilovemountains.org and Appalachian Voices at http://www.appvoices.org - they've been raising awareness and fighting Mountaintop Removal for some time.

Will Pitt sent this link to Truthout - Bill Moyers is covering MTR on PBS tomorrow night:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090607U.shtml

Here is the PBS page about that segment of the show:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09072007/profile.html

[alfredo]

11. They are very good at voter empowerment. They do voter registration

in poor and minority neighborhoods. Their get out and vote efforts are legendary. They even use the old time tactic of using a car and loud speaker.

[nam78_two]

12. Thanks for this post-this is very important

I will keep kicking this and definitely send in my comments. I will also post this to all the enviro lists I am on. I haven't yet read the information on the site-I will check back here after I read them.

Thanks for posting this.

One of the lists I am on has a couple of people who specialize in environmental law-I will send this their way and hopefully have some comments to post back here soon.

[demobabe]

13. Here is a great Washington Post article that explains what Bushco is doing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6462-2004Aug16.html

Quotes:

"They call them 'clarifications,' but it's really all about removing obstacles," said Jack Spadaro, who regulated coal mines for 32 years as a federal mine inspector and senior mining safety officer. "They've made it easier for companies to dump mining waste into streams, and harder for citizens to challenge them."

. . .

Government studies show that mountaintop mining inflicts a heavy toll. Streams that have not been buried under mining debris carry high levels of silt and toxic chemicals, experts say. About 5 percent of forest cover in southern West Virginia has been stripped away by mines, along with popular mountain vistas that can never be replaced.

. . .

But the environmental damage is hard to miss. In mining areas, the waste rock piles up in huge "valley fills" that are sometimes more than a mile long and hundreds of feet deep. They have buried more than 700 miles of headwater streams across central Appalachia, government studies show.

Other impacts are felt downstream. Federal water-quality studies have found substantially higher levels of selenium, a mineral that is toxic to fish in high doses -- in rivers near the mines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that as many as 244 species, including several that are endangered, were being affected by the loss of forest and aquatic habitats.

[nam78_two]

16. I remember that article-it is super depressing

Good find demobabe-it almost deserves its own thread.

[demobabe]

17. It is an older article BUT

It gives the history of what has been done, especially since Bush took office including predicting these changes. Great article.

[demobabe]

14. kick

:)

[nam78_two]

15. kick.nt

[demobabe]

18. kick

keeping this fresh, so maybe others will help...

[demobabe]

19. kick

[nam78_two]

20. kick.nt

[demobabe]

21. kick

[demobabe]

22. Christians for the Mountains

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/09/mountaintop_ministry.html

Allen Johnson co-founded and heads the advocacy group, Christians for the Mountains, an organization that summons Christians to help protect the environment, paying particular attention to the southern Appalachian Mountains region.

Since this segment originally aired in October 2006, Christians for the Mountains has joined up with other denominations in making mountaintop removal mining an issue of urgency among the creation care leaders nationwide. In May 2007, Allen and Roman Catholic priest Father John Rausch hosted religious leaders for a two-day tour of mountaintop removal sites, and at the end of the tour, the two dozen religious leaders signed a joint statement against mountaintop removal practices.

[demobabe]

23. kick

:)

[demobabe]

24. OVEC has organized a national comment drive

Bush Wants To Change Buffer Zone Rule: Nationwide Push for Comments
The Bush administration’s latest attempt to legalize illegal mountaintop removal practices has stirred up cries of outrage across the nation.

It’s strange to say, but we almost have to thank the administration for its latest dastardly move. Bush is helping to build our base--more people than ever now know about mountaintop removal! Groups small and large are working together to get in comments on the rule change. Newspapers coast-to-coast are running mad-as-hell letters to the editor and scathing editorials. Bloggers are asking people to take action. More and more people realize we have to force Congress to ban mountaintop removal.

If you want an easy way to keep up with the news and opinion, please be sure to check our updated-daily news-link page often. Just for fun, below are some of the stories generated by the proposed rule change.

What is up? The Bush administration’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM) wants to quit requiring coal operators to prove that their mountaintop removal operations will not damage streams, fish and wildlife. They want to gut the stream buffer zone rule, which says land within 100 feet of a stream cannot be disturbed by mining unless a company can prove it will not affect the water’s quality and quantity.

This rule was at the heart of major West Virginia litigation challenging mountaintop removal in the late 1990s. If the changes the Bush administration proposes are finalized, then the illegal becomes legal. State and federal “regulatory” agencies have basically overlooked the rule and allowed valley fills in perennial and intermittent streams. Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment and other lawyers for citizen groups continue to interpret the rule as banning those fills, and federal judges have agreed with us.

The proposed rule change would say the buffer zone rule does not apply to burying streams with the rubble from former mountaintops. That is, the rule doesn’t apply to valley fills and even coal sludge dams and impoundments.

Take Action! ~Speak Out!
Important—in all communication please note the docket number: RIN 1029-AC04.

By 4:30 p.m. EST September 24: Please call, write or-email the Office of Surface Mining.
Tell them:
--Pull the proposed buffer zone rule change and enforce the law now on the books.
--If you won't pull the proposed rule change and enforce the law on the books, then you must grant a 90-day extension to the comment period AND give us a public hearing in the southern West Virginia coalfields.

Call or e-mail:
Dennis G. Rice
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Telephone: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]

For written comments, write to:
OSMRE
Administrative Record
Room 252 SIB
1951 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20240
If you want to make more detailed comments now, the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, Earthjustice and Public Justice have prepared excellent talking points to help you. Click here to view the talking points.

Note that the deadline to ask for a public hearing is 4:30 p.m. EST September 24. Right now, the deadline for written comments is October 23, though we are asking for a 90-day extension. Remember, please identify comments with: IN 1029-AC04.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

September 20: Call-in Day to Congress
On September 20, please call your Congressperson.
Ask her or him to please contact the Office of Surface Mining to say:
--Pull the proposed buffer zone rule change and enforce the law now on the books.
--If OSM won't pull the proposed rule change and enforce the law on the books, then it must grant a 90-day extension to the comment period AND grant a public hearing in the southern West Virginia coalfields.

[demobabe]

25. Many good links about this

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/200708219
http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=28553&printview=1
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/23/19919/1351
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/23/coal_miners_nation/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-kohn/blood-coal-not-clean-co_b_61696.html
http://www.kentucky.com/591/story/158079.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/us/23coal.html?ex=1188532800&en=b2b66778ce8bfb36&ei=5070&emc=eta1
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/08/bush-administra.html
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-22-091.asp
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C17FD3F590C748EDDA10894DF404482
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/8/25/04329/9087
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/08/the-top-of-old-.html
http://thegarance.com/archives/653
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-mining31aug31,0,4561429.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/23/europe/coal.php
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/08/23/PM200708232.html
http://pine-magazine.com/content.php?id=917
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0823-09.htm
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/24/1321257
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708240396
http://media.www.kykernel.com/media/storage/paper305/news/2007/08/24/CampusNews/New-Rules.May.Change.Mining.Landscape-2936203.shtml
http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2007/08/criminal.asp
http://www.riseupwestvirginia.blogspot.com/
(in the above, you may have to scroll down for the blog on the buffer zone)
http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-mountaintops-cut-first-then-mountaineers-voices
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070824/OPINION/708240468/1030
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/nation_world/story.asp?ID=206246&cookie=allowed
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WV_SURFACE_MINING_WVOL-?SITE=WVHUN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708250406
http://highlandscam.blogspot.com/2007/08/can-we-save-mountains.html
http://brownfemipower.com/?p=1826
http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/24/king-coals-head-is-stuck-where-the-sun-dont-shine/5823/
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/editorials/ci_6728880
http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/opinions.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2007-08-26-0003.html
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/08/27/PM200708277.html
http://www.environmental-action.org/enviroaction.asp?id=2435&id4=ES
http://leoweekly.com/?q=node/5347 <http://leoweekly.com/?q=node/5347>
http://www.heraldandtribune.com/jht/default.asp?SectionID=DETAIL&ID=57206
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-harrop_30edi.ART.State.Edition1.424d653.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/31/91158/9320

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/03/opinion/l03coal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.kansascity.com/273/story/258297.html
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/257602.html
http://www.ecologicalhope.org/uncategorized/bush-carte-blanche-to-blow-away-the-applachian-mountains/

[Quantess]

28. Thanks for adding the 'toon.

I love visuals.

[H2O Man]

26. Pace's Environmental

Law School -- have you contacted them?

[demobabe]

27. No...

...but that is a good idea. Will do that. :)